Just in case you thought we were sitting around doing nothing

c/o City of Victoria
Public Works Dept.
Victoria,

October 21, 2009

Dear Mr. Guy In Charge

I am writing to request a refund for expenses incurred when a blocked sanitary sewer line on City property caused a backflow of sewage into my basement on three separate occasions.

On the first occasion, September 8, 2009, we noticed what appeared to be relatively clean water coming up from the drainage hole in the pan for our hot water heater. The water receded fairly quickly and, after cleaning up what remained, we called Roto-Rooter to come and clean out the sewer lines between our house and the City’s section. The visit cost $141.75, but thanks to a mostly empty concrete basement storage room, nothing was damaged.

One month later, on October 6, 2009, the sewage backed up again, this time coming up not only from under the hot water tank in the storage area, but also from beneath the toilet in our basement bathroom. There was a great deal more water on this occasion, and it was dirty, foul-smelling, and clearly sewage given the amount and nature of the particulates within it. We called Roto-Rooter again, and they came back on an after-hours emergency call. Once again, they cleaned the drains between our house and the street. Although their guarantee from the previous cleaning was in effect, we still had to pay the cost of the after-hours visit, which resulted in another bill for $141.75.

Early the next morning, the sewer backed up again, resulting in yet another flood of foul liquid throughout our basement storage area and the downstairs bathroom. Roto-Rooter came back immediately and cleaned all of the pipes and drains beneath the house, but found no blockages or obstructions that could account for the repeated backups. They returned for a fourth time that afternoon with a camera and scoped the entire length of our sewer line, eventually finding the cause of the problem.

Evidently, our sanitary sewer line connects with our neighbour’s sanitary sewer before joining the main city line. The Roto-Rooter camera found a collapsed portion of the City’s sewer line, which greatly reduced the flow of sewage into the main line, and effectively sent our neighbour’s sewage back up our pipes and into our basement.

Fortunately, we had removed most of our possessions from the basement storage room after the first incident, and thus none of our belongings (at least, nothing of any value) were damaged. Unfortunately, the sewage did permeate and completely ruin the floor of our bathroom, which we had just finished renovating less than a year ago. We have had to rip up the damaged planking, as well as the rotten subfloor, and reinstall the entire floor. We repaired the damage ourselves, so we are not seeking contractor’s labour costs, but we are seeking compensation for multiple Roto-Rooter visits, and the cost of the materials required to restore the bathroom floor.

We are therefore requesting reimbursement for the following expenses:
Roto-Rooter: $141.75
Roto-Rooter again: 141.75
Roto-Rooter again, of course: 325.50
RONA (plywood): 65.39
Finishing Store: 419.35

TOTAL: $1093.74


Sincerely,

Don and Amy